Joseph could swear that the presence was there again, for a fleeting moment. But no matter how hard he was focusing to try and find it, there was nothing left.

As for the other news, he now had two self-proclaimed lovers vying for his attention in his own head.

This sounds like a disaster and a half…

Be strong, bredda. I got you.

Thank you, mate. That was the most sincere Joe had ever been in his life.

After Memory finished her speech, Logic put his glasses on top of his head.

Endurance removed his own altogether.

Empathy put her hand to her mouth in shock.

Understanding exhaled a ‘thumbs up’, smirking.

Strength began to shake his fists above his head, shouting “Yes!!!”.

Perception tried to hide even deeper into the corner.

Resolve cracked her knuckles.

And Intuition repeated Understanding’s gesture, only with his own thumb instead.

“I can’t believe this…” ‘Your Honor’ had sweat streaming down his stunned face. “She finally said something sensible!”

The entire courtroom exploded in emotions, with every single Stat except the heroine herself cheering. Memory was shooting her glances around rapidly, completely lost.

“I mean… after such proclamation, I wouldn’t mind to invite her to WSG…” The fortune teller was slouching in the chair, enjoying the chaos around.

Joseph tapped Endurance’s shoulder.

“What the hell is WSG?!”

“Oh, it’s our little group.” Intuition answered instead. “World Survival Group - me, Logic and Understanding. For now.”

“World Survival? Are other Stats not suitable for this, or what?”

Understanding waved his hand.

“It’s not like that, bredda. It’s just… you know… all of us are living in the Mind, after all, even muscle-brains. So, as the ones responsible for this particular part, we decided to be the founding members.”

They are making groups inside my head now… Unbelievable… How deep does this hole go?…

Logic coughed.

“Since the entire courtroom has turned into a circus show, there is no reason to keep up with this farce anymore. Joseph?”

“Yeah?”

“It seems like most of my friends were on your side this time, but student, please, for the love of God, please put some soft materials down next time, you have to!”

He noticed several Stats nodding in agreement.

It’s not like I’m doing it intentionally, alright?!

“Sure, I’ll keep it in my Memory.”

The radiant smile he was rewarded with was definitely worth this pun.

Empathy ran up to her, trying to talk to her. Memory turned around with a loud “Hmph!”, but her ear was still pointed in the blonde girl’s direction.

“I think it’s time to wrap everything up.” Joseph sighed. “Understanding, I need you for a second.”

The fortune teller nodded.

Did you get anything?

Nothing, bredda. Inner State cut us off, and we can’t really track it down without your, or System’s, direct input. I couldn’t even figure out the nature of this presence.

That’s not good… but thanks for your help.

Think nothing of it, brother. We are all part of you here, after all.

With the way their characters developed, Joseph wasn’t convinced about that part. No way he would ever talk like any of them, or be in love with himself to such a degree.

That was a fun event still.

He heard a chuckle.

It was all for your own sake, brother. As for the show itself… You can figure this one out by yourself. It almost worked, too.

Show itself… almost worked… wait, they knew even before he noticed that?!

Good night, brother. Or should I say, afternoon?

The courtroom faded away into the depths of his Mind.

The Status screen took its familiar place.

Xander’s training session didn’t leave any lasting damage on his body. Everything was normal. Except for his pose. His body was snoring, sitting up, borderline bent in half. Certainly not a healthy way to spend the night. Just how sore he would be, once he wakes up…

System, any interference?

No Interference Detected.

I’d like one dream, please.

Turning off Status Screen. Sweet dreams...

*****

“Nick, move your ass faster! We got a vacation, and I am not wasting it!”

Joseph shook his head, hiding his smile, as one black-haired woman, one blonde man and he himself were walking down the street to the sports complex near their college.

The blazing summer sun was merciless to their group, but the wind was fighting it back tooth and nail. Their clash resulted in a nice, relaxing day without a single hint of rain on the horizon.

They definitely struck gold with their timing. Just as their project has finished going through the final testing cycle, Ekaterina got them this paid vacation a couple of weeks earlier than usual.

So now they had both money and free time. His black-haired friend was holding her ex-boyfriend (also his friend) in a headlock, pinching his side. Joseph was right behind them, basking in the warm sunlight.

Nicholas offered to visit batting cages near their old college. Neither Kate nor Joe had any better ideas on how to spend their first day, so the proposition was accepted without a fuss.

“Nick, are you sure your noodle arms are good for a task?”

The blonde man frowned.

“Sorry, princess, while my hands are not filled with the same amount of meat, I am capable of holding a simple bat just fine.”

Joe heard a chuckle. Ekaterina was flexing her hard-earned muscles.

“This girl got the weights, that’s true.”

Nick rolled his eyes, grinning at this cheesy line.

An ice cream stand was standing nearby. Kate reached into her pocket.

“Damn, I got no change. Nick, you have some?”

Joseph stopped Nicholas and put coins down on the stand in front of a seller.

“Kiwi, strawberry, and vanilla.”

The old man in a chair, with a phone in his hand, nodded, dropped the coins into a cash register, and pulled out three ice cream cones.

“How did you even remember our tastes, Joe?” His female coworker was munching on the product.

He shrugged in response.

“No idea… I just did.”

They arrived at their destination without much fanfare. The batting cages met them with a vague smell of rust and rubber.

The black-haired woman reached her hand for a bat. She picked it up, snickered, and swung it around.

Nick managed to duck just in time.

“Woman, watch what you are doing!!”

“Sorry!” She hid the bat behind her back and lowered her eyes.

“I see that smirk on your lips.” Joseph lifted up the beer can. He himself was sitting on a bench nearby.

Nick could only shake his head. A sheepish smile from the reckless ‘lady’ didn’t bring him any comfort.

“Well, who is going first?” She threw the bat on her shoulder.

Two men glanced at each other. Nick shrugged. Joseph himself didn’t really want to get up from this cozy bench underneath him, so he just waved to Ekaterina to go ahead.

She spread her arms in response, unamused.

“Since you are getting cold feet, I’m going first. Watch me fly!”

The pinching machine was up and running. Kate gestured to the man on the controls.

The old piece of junk growled. The ball blazed through the air, coming closer and closer. She gripped the bat tighter, and swung it with all her might.

“Thousand Thunders Ball!!”

It would’ve been a great hit, if she actually aimed, instead of sending the ball at the wall. Kate frowned.

“One is supposed to hit the target above the machine, Kate! Also, ‘Thousand Thunders Ball’?”

Ekaterina waved Nick off. When she turned her head around, Joseph saw her pouting face.

“Want to take my place? I’m so sure, you’ll do better!”

The blonde man shielded himself with his hands.

“I am just a weak man, don’t put me in the spotlight like that! But what about Thousand Thunders, Kat?”

“Haven’t watched Thunder Balls Whee? How are you going to become a gentleman of culture, if you didn’t even see classics yet?”

She got an unamused grimace from the blonde man.

“I thought you grew up already.”

Kate blew a raspberry and turned back to the pinching machine.

“Hit it up, mate!”

The machine shot the next ball way higher up. Kate met it with her bat near the waist, sending it to pierce the air and meet with the red circle on the wall.

The lights on the machine turned on, shouting ‘Homerun!’ from afar.

“One for the lady!”

“Eight more to go, ‘lady’. Get to work.” Joseph saluted with the beer can.

Kate prepared the bat. Joseph couldn’t hold a chuckle inside, when he realized that she was standing in the pose of a fantasy Hero, facing a fearsome Dragon with a sword in his hand, straight out from her favoutite animation.

The balls stormed her one by one. The third one went into the yellow zone, the fourth hit right at the middle of the target. She cheered with her fist, missing the fifth ball, which crashed into the cage.

Joe and Nick burst into laughter. Kate flipped them off, and raised her bat, focusing herself.

The sixth ball went low. She pushed off the floor with her right leg, hitting the projectile with the bat from below. The ball arched through the air and landed right into the red circle.

The next one came right after. Kate waited for a moment and hit a homerun without a single issue.

The last two were even less of a bother. The ball flew high, and that didn’t help it at all. Then Kate scored the tenth one without even concentrating.

The man at the controls put his hand up. Kate leaned on her bat, smiling. The score showed up on the screen.

Seven out of ten. Her smile has upgraded itself into the smug one.

“Who’s the best one here, huh?”

Joe shook his head. She wasn’t tired at all.

“Are you even capable of sweating?”

Kate threw a glance in his direction.

“Is this really something you should be asking a girl?” She put her hand on the chest. ”Of course I am!!”

Nick chuckled, standing up.

“Joe, this gorilla is the triple winner of runner competitions between schools. And double in the college. You think she is capable of being tired?”

Kate grabbed the beer can out of his hand and drank out of it.

“And swimming competitions too!” Kate returned the empty can to the owner, who rolled his eyes. “And I’ve been hitting a gym three times a week now.”

Joseph reached out his hand with a card in it.

“I see your girl has robbed you of a good time. Buy some for us all.”

The blonde man chuckled and left the cage to get the drinks. Kate sat on the bench near Joe, who was finishing his own beer.

“Man… I couldn’t believe that the chief just agreed to send us on the vacation. I thought I’d have to beg him for hours, but nope - he just signed the paper without any questions! Praise be Lord Mark, and his total unwillingness to swim in the ocean of paperwork…”

Joseph shook his head, smiling into the empty can.

“And I can’t believe, that you never pursued the sports career. What’s with that?”

She leaned on the bench, staring into the glass roof of the building. Joseph heard a long sigh.

“Fuck it, man… mom was pressuring me into it through my entire college life. I’ve had enough, and told her a lot of things… and besides, I am way better at counting money in the cool office with a pool table, training in my leisure time, rather than standing on a podium, all sweaty, receiving some useless pieces of junk…”

“I heard money was flowing in sports.”

He heard an ice-cold laugh.

“Ha. Ha. Ha. Who cares, Joe. I don’t. Do you?”

Joseph shrugged. He certainly wasn’t the one for professional sports. Even if he was doing his best to support his healthy lifestyle, he couldn’t care less about achieving some imaginary heights in the athletic world. What’s the point, if by sitting on his ass for a month, he would get enough money to cover all of his bills anyway?

Yet…